The Easy Guide To E-mail Address
L33tness (using my very own email addresses as examples)
1. DOKool@aol.com - Yes, this states that I am an AOL user, but the relative shortness, originality, and lack of random numbers at the end shows that I must have been an early adopter. Also, the fact that I'm still on AOL despite a plethora of alternatives shows that I am either reluctant to change, or that I have too much at stake to attempt a change.
2. dokool@dokool.com - This tells you a little bit more. First, the fact that I own my own domain shows that I take the internet somewhat more seriously than others. Second, I can afford a domain, and that I've managed to configure this email addy proves my knowledge of software.
3. dokool@simons-rock.edu - The last example. Ignoring the domain (simons-rock), first look at the .edu extension. This says that I have managed to obtain an address at a college or university. The fact that I have my alias (dokool) @simons-rock.edu shows that I knew somebody in CMS well enough to get my alias changed to whatever I wanted. (m turner says: "Some universities have that the case for all students and faculty, others just faculty... depends on the size." In otherwords, your l33tness quotient will vary)
Email addresses can be a status symbol, of sorts. Since all of my emails resolve to one central address, I choose what I want to convey by giving somebody my email address. The .edu says that I'm a bright college student. The dokool.com says that I have my own website, thus I must know my shit. The aol.com... well, I never give out the aol.com.
Stuff I Didn't Touch Upon:
Foreign Extensions - Having an extension that resides in a foreign country (especially a relatively cool one, like .il for Israel) gets you karma, though pretty much any foreign email is nice to have.
Government Extensions - Yes, a .gov. It just screams impressive. Nothing much needs to be said here, except that I hope you've procured it through the normal channels.
Military Extensions - .mil is probably one of the more harder extensions to come by, but all the more power to you if you have one, legally.